The First

This blog has been created to serve as a medium of contemplations on nature, specifically literature that discusses nature and the thoughts of others on an interrelated system or force no one will ever be able to understand.

I suppose a proper subject for a first post in an independent study course is some means of a rumination on what I hope to gain from these three credit hours.

I find myself constantly thinking, constantly wondering and attempting to seek understanding with that which happens around and without me. With volunteering at the Aquarium, canoeing in the beautiful and strange swamps around New Orleans, weekly bike rides through Audubon park, constantly reading and writing, traveling to various countries of curious ecosystems and simply being in love with the world, I don't always know how to process such senses and perceptions. By reading how others have responded to the presence of nature and how they apply such reactions into human culture, I hope to not only gain insight into the literature of nature, but to learn how to better express my own contemplations.

This blog, I hope, will be a projection of the thoughts I have while reading for the course and reactions to daily experiences with nature through unexpected texts.

I am enclosing my first post with a picture I took while serving as a camp counselor at Camp Orkila on Orcas Island, Washington. It features two counselors I worked with, both from the United Kingdom, simply enjoying the sunshine and laying in the field beside the cabin. Perhaps this blog will take my experiences and translate them into complete thoughts like this photo.